Paceline Tandem #06

We knew even before the race was over that we would be talking to Yuri Hauswald about his adventure at the new 350-mile version of Dirty Kanza, known as the DKXL. How could we not? The 2015 winner of Dirty Kanza is as warm an interview as we get and his unguarded admissions are just the sort of insight into racing that we all hope to get from pro athletes. And Hauswald is different from most pros. He’s older, and is an established pro in his career with GU Energy where he oversees athlete relations; he’s also a fine writer in his own right. He may or may not have an alter ego known as Salty the Yeti, but given that Snuffleupagus-style we don’t ever see Yuri when Salty is around, we harbor suspicions.

FWIW: Yuri says he thinks he sounds punch-drunk, which is maybe fair given how soon after the race we talked to him.

D2R2, as I wrote in the post you linked to, was simply poorly organized. I’ve got nothing against charity. By comparison, Dirty Kanza was very well organized. I’ll never forget being at the lunch stop at D2R2 and a woman rolled up and asked for a vegetarian sandwich. The guy handing out sandwiches said, “We gave those out already, you should have gotten here sooner.” I thought the insult was a nice touch. To which she replied, “I signed up early so that I could select my lunch because I’m vegan. There was supposed to be a sandwich here for me.” Dude just shrugged his shoulders. There are motos patrolling nearly every inch of the Grasshoppers I do, but at D2R2 I never saw a single sweep. Not one. Someone told me that Sandy drove the course that night after the sun went down. Given how deep many of the ditches were, his headlights would never have caught anyone who ran off the road. And certainly, DK is less supported than D2R2, but at least Cummins and Dains don’t make promises they won’t fulfill. I stand by my post about D2R2—and believe me, I love that country and I showed up expecting to love the event—I’d feel differently were it better run.

Yuri was finished well before dark (what would be his second dark, on Saturday, at least). So how come he’s on the chaise in the dark? Did they go out on Friday night for the DK350 people? BTW, the Salsa Cycles “Chase the Chaise” is one of the best promotions I’ve ever seen. Probably the all-time best. I just f$%^ing love it. Free (if you don’t count the preceding 180 miles as payment), super-cool souvenir photos with not one scrap of product placement or branding.